Ex-BTCC racer Smith returns to VW Cup

Former BTCC driver Mark Smith is to return to the race track after nearly a decade away in 2015, competing in the Milltek Sport Volkswagen Racing Cup.

Smith, 49, from Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, returns to a series he last contested in 2005, having brought an ex-Scirocco R Cup previously raced in Germany. He will compete this year under the InFront Motorsport banner.

On the back of an unsuccessful progression to the British Touring Car Championship in 2006, Smith says he is looking forward to a fresh start behind the wheel. “It’s all a bit less serious this time,” he says. “I just want to enjoy it and get back into it.

“I have done nothing at all since touring cars, which I didn’t really enjoy, and I have come to the position now where I’m ready to have another go.”

Ahead of his return to racing, Smith and his InFront Motorsport team are busy converting their Scirocco R from natural gas configuration as ran in Europe, back to petrol power, something which Smith is taking into consideration when talking about his aspirations for 2015.

“I am not expecting to be at the front – if I can get half way up the grid I’ll be happy. It will take a season for the car and for me to get close to competitive, but eventually I hope we will get there.”

The series kicks off again at Oulton Park on Easter Weekend, 5-6 April.